Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios still rely on proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. Enter Immens, the brainchild of three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game‑tech history, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they argue that there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of today’s offerings. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee noted that “the opportunity now is to build an engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the notion of building a game from the ground up, offering developers a way to achieve full functionality quickly while retaining tight guidance and control.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that their use of AI is not the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” model that many have come to expect. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explains. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle system—without being constrained to a limited scripting layer.” This extensibility is central to Immens’ vision of letting creators augment the engine swiftly using AI‑driven tools. The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from the current economic climate of game development.
Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to stay viable. “We need new workflows that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he says. “Otherwise you risk everything—your livelihood, your studio, your future.” De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating past methods won’t solve them,” he asserts. “We need genuine innovation, not just more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, limiting creative freedom.
With AI, Immens aims to flip this script, delivering an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs. “Flexibility is key,” he says.
“You should be able to swap components, append new ones, and craft tools that match your exact workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require.” Valient acknowledges that AI, while powerful, can be unpredictable if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep users in the driver’s seat. “You always know what the engine is doing, you can trace its history, and you can reproduce results reliably,” he notes.
This transparency is intended to prevent the “black‑box” syndrome that plagues many AI implementations. The team envisions a future where routine tasks—like generating five characters with specific traits—can be accomplished in minutes rather than weeks. “What used to cost a small studio a fortune can now be prototyped over coffee,” Valient says.
“You can spin up a custom tool, use it a handful of times, and discard it. That level of agility is transformative.” Immens’ architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow.
De Jong stresses that developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it. “Our framework is modular; you can choose the degree of AI assistance that fits your project,” he explains. “The challenge is ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly, which is why we focus on robust, understandable interfaces.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By adopting open, text‑based standards, the engine can seamlessly exchange data with popular tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
“When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them,” Brussee says. “The AI can then manipulate those files directly, creating a smoother pipeline across the entire toolchain.
This openness solves a problem that many proprietary engines have ignored for years.” The broader industry conversation around AI is polarized. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that can conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’ founders are cautious.
While they see the potential for such rapid prototyping, they view AI primarily as a **tool**, not a replacement for human creativity. “AI will make everyone better, but the core artistry remains with the developer,” Valient asserts. “The current negative perception stems from the sheer scale of disruption AI introduces.” De Jong adds a responsible‑use perspective: “AI, like any technology, can be misused. It’s our duty to shape it in a way that benefits the industry without causing harm.” He likens this to any powerful tool humanity has ever created—its impact depends on the user.
Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many warning of a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many weak companies fell, but the underlying technology endured and flourished.” He believes Immens’ focus on building a genuinely useful engine will help it survive any market turbulence. “We’re not chasing hype; we’re building a solid product that leverages AI to accelerate development and expand creative horizons.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization, noting that excessive cash can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he jokes, emphasizing that lean operations foster disciplined decision‑making.
The company’s headcount is deliberately tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. De Jong explains the trade‑off: a massive team does not guarantee success in a complex endeavor like engine development. “You need a focused group that can iterate, make hard choices, and learn from failures. At the same time, you must be large enough to hit the market window created by AI’s rise.” Immens is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team aims to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original estimate of completing it by year‑end. “We’re moving twice as fast as we thought we would,” Brussee says, underscoring the speed gains they attribute to AI integration. Business‑model discussions are still early.
While Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach, they have not committed to any specific revenue structure yet. The founders remain open to models that align with their philosophy of empowering creators. Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will spark a new wave of daring, artistic games. “We love games as an expressive medium,” Brussee concludes.
“We want to see more risk‑taking, more creativity, and more innovation built on technology that actually serves the maker. If we can help make that happen, it would be amazing."